Eat Only Salad To Lose Weight

You may think eating salads every day is the best thing you can do for your body. We can see why, as practically all nutrition experts agree that eating fruits and vegetables every day can significantly improve a person's health. In fact, the first two recommendations for a healthy eating pattern in the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans are to eat a variety of vegetables, and to eat fruit (especially whole fruit). These guidelines, which take into account all existing nutrition research and are updated every five years, explain that vegetables and fruits are associated with a reduced risk of many chronic diseases, including [heart disease], and may be protective against certain types of cancers.

Eating only salad every day would certainly mean getting in plenty of fruits and vegetables at every meal. And, because fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and relatively low in calories, it's reasonable to think that eating only salad might help you eat fewer calories over all. A study published in

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults eat five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. (For reference, they measure one serving is one cup of leafy greens, one-half cup of other vegetables, one half-cup of fresh fruit, or one-half cup of dried fruit.) Unfortunately, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that only one in ten American adults actually eat their five a day. Seung Hee Lee Kwan, a CDC nutrition researcher, said in the report, As a result, we're missing out on the essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that fruits and vegetables provide.

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Eating only salad every day would almost certainly guarantee you five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. Think about it: Two cups of leafy greens plus half a cup each of tomatoes, cucumbers, and chopped apple would make a reasonable base for a lunchtime salad, and delivers all five of the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Even if you were to eat a salad half that size at every meal, you'd get more than enough fruits and vegetables in daily.

Eating only salad every day would boost your vegetable consumption, since salads are inherently rich in vegetables (unless you're only eating things like chicken salad, egg salad, and ambrosia salad, which may contain no vegetables at all and aren't 

What we're talking about here). You'd probably be eating more fruit, too, since things like raisins, strawberries, and chopped apples add a little sweetness to salads. In other words, eating only salad means eating

Foods To Help You Lose Weight

According to the United Kingdom's National Health Service, fruits and veggies are a good source of important vitamins and minerals, and are a good source of dietary fiber. They can also help reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer. Harvard Health explains that while no single fruit or vegetable will provide all the nutrients you need for good health and reduced disease risk, a variety of different fruits and vegetables each day can do the trick. 

If you're eating only salad every day you're probably eating loads of leafy green vegetables, since foods like lettuce, spinach, kale, and arugula form the base of most salads. That's great news for your health. A 2016 meta-analysis published in 

Found that eating more leafy green vegetables was associated with a significantly lower risk of heart disease across eight previous studies conducted in several different regions of the world.

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Found that eating more leafy green vegetables was associated with slower cognitive (brain function) decline, and that study subjects who ate the most leafy green vegetables experienced cognitive decline at a rate equivalent to being 11 years younger in cognitive age than those who ate the least leafy greens. This preliminary research warrants further study, but the potential brain benefits of leafy greens should be enough to have you reaching for more of them every day.

One of the reasons that fruits and vegetables are so healthy is that they are rich in fiber, a compound found in plant foods that your body can't digest and absorb. There are two types of fiber: soluble and insoluble. Soluble fiber turns into a gel when mixed with water and can help lower blood cholesterol and blood sugar. Insoluble fiber helps move food through your digestive system, which helps bulk up your stool (yes, poop) and prevent diarrhea (via Mayo Clinic). 

Eating only salad every day means you'll almost certainly get at least the recommended daily amount of fiber, which is 25 grams per day for women and 38 grams per day for men 50 years of age or younger. The insoluble fiber found in vegetables like cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, nuts, and beans will help keep food moving, so that you don't feel too blocked up or bloated during the day.

I Ate Salad For Every Meal For Five Days, Here's What Happened

Evidence shows that insoluble fiber isn't just good for digestive comfort, though. Studies have found that high-fiber diets also lower your risk of colorectal cancer, which could be due to fiber fermenting in your colon having a protective effect, the Mayo Clinic explained.

Eating only salad every day could help improve your blood sugar control. Good blood sugar control can lower your risk of developing the disease. In fact, according to the American College of Cardiology, evidence shows that people who eat the most fiber have an 18 percent lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who eat the least fiber. If you do have diabetes, the American Diabetes Association recommends getting at least 14 grams of fiber per 1, 000 calories to help with blood sugar control and digestion as well as reduce the risk of other chronic diseases.

That said, the best way to ensure good blood sugar control is to eat salads that have more vegetables than fruits. Diabetes UK explained that while fruit can and should absolutely be part of your healthy diet, it's important for those with diabetes, or are at high risk for diabetes, to pay attention to portion sizes, as eating several servings of fruit (which has lots of natural sugar) at once might cause a sharp rise in blood sugar. 

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Honestly, fiber almost has too many benefits to count. The big dose of fiber that you would inevitably get from eating only salad every day would not only help with digestion, blood sugar control, and fullness — it might also help reduce your risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association (AHA) explains that eating plenty of fiber can benefit heart health in two ways. 

First, high-fiber foods like fruits and vegetables can help you lose weight or maintain weight by helping you feel full on fewer calories, thanks to the fact that it takes up space in your digestive system but can't actually be absorbed. Second, the AHA recommends filling at least half your plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal — which is a no-brainer when you're eating salad — because the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients in these foods may help prevent heart disease and stroke.

They association further recommends eating at least one serving a day from each of the five main color groups: green, white, orange/yellow, red/pink, and blue/purple. This way, you get as many helpful nutrients as possible.

Benefits Of Eating Salads Regularly

Eating only salad every day doesn't mean just eating a pile of fruits and vegetables with nothing on it. Healthy fats are a must in every salad — for a variety of reasons. First, fat helps with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins found in fruits and vegetables (via ScienceDaily). Without any fat on your salad, many of the vitamins would just pass right through you without being absorbed into your bloodstream.

Second, unsaturated fats are health-promoting in and of themselves. According to the American College of Cardiology,  unsaturated fats — those that come from plants, with the exception of coconut oil which is saturated — can help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. Because fat is more calorie-dense than carbs or protein, with 9 calories per gram, it can also help you feel full for longer. Common sources of unsaturated fats are olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, and fish, all of which make great salad add-ins.

Eating only salad every day can easily get boring, but adding different nuts and seeds as salad toppers at each meal is one way to keep things interesting. Nuts and seeds are easy to buy in bulk and you can store them in your pantry for months at a time. And as Harvard Health highlighted,  mounting evidence suggests that eating nuts and seeds daily can lower your risk of diabetes and heart disease and may even lengthen your life.

Is Eating Salad Every Day To Lose Weight Effective?

Found that nuts can improve satiety and might help you burn more calories overall, although exactly why this happens isn't clear. It's a phenomenon that warrants further research and that scientists still don't totally understand. But in the meantime, it's a great excuse to add nuts to your daily routine.

If you're eating only salad every day because you're hoping to lose weight, here's a fact that cause you to reconsider: It won't necessarily lead to

, researchers found that although eating fewer calories (which will likely happen if you eat only salad) will definitely lead to short-term weight

Young Woman On A Diet, Eats Only Salad And Tries To Lose Weight Stock Photo